Talk:John J. Pershing

This article seems to be a copy/paste job from the Wikipedia article [1], with minor rewrites in key areas (starts of sections and WWI most notably), so unless User:Brydon can prove he wrote the original on WP, this should be deleted. MarkD1 16:35, 20 November 2008 (EST)

Although there may be some slight similarities, I assure you that this is an original piece. These accusations of plagiarism are unfounded and if you had taken the time to do some legitimate research, you would have quickly realized that this is no simple "copy/paste job". Please don't be so flippant about throwing accusations around like that. -- Brydon

"John J. Pershing was born on a farm near Laclede, Missouri. His father, John F. Pershing, was a businessman who owned a general store. When the Civil War began, Pershing senior worked as a sutler for the 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry Regiment, but did not serve in the military.

Pershing attended a school in Laclede that was reserved for the more intelligent children who were children of high profile citizens. As Pershing's father was well known in Laclede, Pershing and his brother attended this early form of university preparatory school.

Upon graduation from secondary school in 1878, Pershing became a local teacher and became involved with educating local African American children. In this way, although living in an atmosphere of 19th century United States racism, Pershing developed an understanding of racial issues that would later come to play in his military career when he commanded a racially diverse unit of soldiers.

Between 1880 and 1882, Pershing attended the North Missouri Normal School (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, Missouri. In 1882, he applied to the United States Military Academy after hearing that West Point offered excellent college level education. Pershing later admitted that a desire to serve in military was secondary to attending West Point and that he mainly applied to the school because the education offered was better than that of rural Missouri."

And here's yours:

"John Joseph Pershing was born on September 13, 1860 on a farm near the town of Laclede, Missouri. John's father, John Fletcher Pershing, was a local businessman who owned a general store in Laclede and moved his family into the town at the start of 1861. When the American Civil War began, John Fletcher Pershing worked as a sutler for the 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry Regiment, but himself did not serve in the military nor participate in combat.

John J. Pershing attended a small school in Laclede that was seen as a "select school" and reserved for the more intelligent children who were sons and daughters of high profile citizens. As Pershing's father was a well known businessman in the Laclede area, both Pershing and his brother attended this early form of (...) preparatory school.

Upon graduation from secondary school in 1878, Pershing became a local teacher and became involved with educating local African American children. In this way, although living in an atmosphere of 19th century United States racism, Pershing developed an understanding of racial tolerance that would later come to play in his military career when he commanded a racially diverse unit of soldiers.

Between 1880 and 1882, Pershing attended the Truman State University|First Missouri Normal School in Kirksville, Missouri, later Truman State University. In the spring of 1882, already twenty one years old, Pershing applied to the United States Military Academy after hearing that West Point offered an excellent college level education. Pershing would later admit to his sister that a desire to serve in the military was secondary to attending West Point and that he mainly applied to the school because the education offered was better than that of rural Missouri at that time."

I've bolded the parts where your version differs from the WP article. All differences are minor to negligible, except for Truman State/Missouri Normal, where you screwed up with the wikilinking. The same goes for most of the other text, so I don't think anything more needs to be said. MarkD1 17:31, 20 November 2008 (EST)